Something like this you dont screw up. You have Baker, Davidson, Other Baker, McCoy, McGann nearing the end of their lives, and to piss this away for any reason just defeats the whole point of celibrating the 50th.

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Say what? Since when is 53 (Paul McGann) and 61 (Davison) considered to be "nearing the end of their life"? The Bakers and McCoy at 69 and older, yes, definitely a legitimate concern that the opportunity may not arise again.

Not to say McGann or Davison are immune from dying/becoming incapacitated before a future opportunity arises, and I definitely want as many opportunities to see them all while they are alive as possible, but, to call call 53 and 61 "Nearing the end of their lives" is WAY over the top (Unless you know of some specific health threat they have, which I'm unaware of). Yes, I'm aware of Mary Tamm, Elisabeth Sladen and Caroline John the last few years, but, those are exceptions

Well, Davison is only six years off hitting 67, which is when Hartnell and Troughton both died, but as four Docors have now passed it safely(and the one who's passed on lasted another 10 years, superstitious worries about that have gone the way to 'The Rule of Five' .
The Rule of Five was based on the idea that only so many Doctors could be alive at any one time. Initially sparked off by William Hartnell dying midway through Tom Baker's first season, it took on a life of its own when Troughton died between Sylvester being cast and transmission of his first episode, and Pertwee then passed on the same way just before the McGann movie went out.
Fortunately, the pattern has been broken. But some of us were really worried back in early 2005...

They are responsible, whichever way you look at it, either for cutting funding and messing Moffat about, or by not dealing with the situation if it is Moffat's doing. To suggest its not the BBC's fault in any way is to imply Moffat is some kind of evil manipulative genius who makes Jimmy Savile look like an amateur (in the pulling wool over people's eyes, not messing with kids kind of way obviously!)

They are responsible, whichever way you look at it, either for cutting funding and messing Moffat about, or by not dealing with the situation if it is Moffat's doing. To suggest its not the BBC's fault in any way is to imply Moffat is some kind of evil manipulative genius who makes Jimmy Savile look like an amateur (in the pulling wool over people's eyes, not messing with kids kind of way obviously!)

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I think it can be safely assumed we haven't had 2 split series in a row because Moffat is lazy and incompetent. He'd really have been fired by now if he just... failed to deliver half of the episodes he was meant to per series. I can't imagine his employers forgiving that so casually.

It's the BBC's fault. They'll waste money on all kinds of crap but be tight Ferengi when it comes to Doctor Who.

Unless somewhere in the bowlels of the BBC an accountant has worked out that despite what they're losing on merchandising, Moffat still brings in enough money/kudos from Who/Sherlock to cover the shortfall!

I guess Moffat could save a ton of money by just setting everything on modern day Earth like the previous era, but I like that the series is more exploration based now. Power of Three felt like a weird one-off whereas in 2006 that episode would have been the norm.

Shows are expensive to produce. However, BBC can still make a ton of money in merchandize tie-ins. Because of this, it's in their financial interest to make just enough episodes to keep people interested in the show without wearing themselves thin financially. They don't have any financial interest to make as many episodes as possible.

Something like this you dont screw up. You have Baker, Davidson, Other Baker, McCoy, McGann nearing the end of their lives, and to piss this away for any reason just defeats the whole point of celibrating the 50th.

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Say what? Since when is 53 (Paul McGann) and 61 (Davison) considered to be "nearing the end of their life"? The Bakers and McCoy at 69 and older, yes, definitely a legitimate concern that the opportunity may not arise again.

Not to say McGann or Davison are immune from dying/becoming incapacitated before a future opportunity arises, and I definitely want as many opportunities to see them all while they are alive as possible, but, to call call 53 and 61 "Nearing the end of their lives" is WAY over the top (Unless you know of some specific health threat they have, which I'm unaware of). Yes, I'm aware of Mary Tamm, Elisabeth Sladen and Caroline John the last few years, but, those are exceptions

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It may or may not be near the ends of their lives. You can never be sure. But, consider the very low frequency of multi-Doctor episodes and it may well be true that the next one (if there is one) airs after some deaths. Also, even if they're alive, they may be retired from acting and too old to remember their lines/get around even if they wanted to.

Life is uncertain, they should be included now. Of particular concern is William Russell! They messed up with the Brig, let's not have history repeat itself!

^^Any appearance on their part would be voluntary, of course. It would be nice if they were offered the choice. If they declined because they weren't happy with the role, I certainly wouldn't disparage them.

Colin Baker is quite clear on that and I understand that mindset. But, to have the decision made for them because TPTB poked around and missed opportunities, that would be a shame.

I guess Moffat could save a ton of money by just setting everything on modern day Earth like the previous era, but I like that the series is more exploration based now. Power of Three felt like a weird one-off whereas in 2006 that episode would have been the norm.

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I think there's definitely something in this. I don't think Moffat is very conscious of his overspends. RTD seemed more in control of how to spread the money around more - the use of standing sets across more than one episode being one example when RTD's method was more cost effective than Moffat's. Things like constantly changing the TARDIS set to allegedly 'refresh' the look of the show cost money in terms of rebuilds, too. Just leave it the fuck alone, Steven!

I understand the reasons why they feel the need to mix things up a bit. To try and keep things feeling fresh. But to be honest, if your priority is to save money because the BBC can't give you as much as they used to, then the last thing you should be doing is green-lighting new Cyberman costumes or new TARDIS sets. It's an incompetent management of resources that could be better used elsewhere, IMO.

But to be honest, if your priority is to save money because the BBC can't give you as much as they used to, then the last thing you should be doing is green-lighting new Cyberman costumes or new TARDIS sets. It's an incompetent management of resources that could be better used elsewhere, IMO.

But fandom doesn't want them to save money, look at the whining that went on because they used an Ood in the Doctor's Wife rather than the new alien Gaiman had designed, or because of the gang of aliens who turned up at the end of The Pandorica Opens because they just used every old costume they had to pad it out?

Clearly money was wasted, I never liked the console room retread and I like the one we saw in The Snowman a lot more, and there were the fatleks (of course you could argue their redesign was less about Moffat and co wanting to change things than the merchandising people demanding it) but they do seem to have embraced money saving where they can (filming mutilple epiosdes when they went to Spain/Croatia).

I don't think there's one single reason why the number of episodes have dropped off, I think its a combination of things, from Moffat perhaps not being well organised enough to the Beeb cutting costs--but then most of us really don't know one way or another. I have no idea how much creative control Moffat has compared to RTD, or, more importantly, how much money he has to spend. It wouldn't surprise me if RTD had more control and a bigger budget, certainly he seems to have been given the green light for most things he wanted to do (up to a point) Dr Who confidential? Sure! Torchwood? Why not! Sarah Jane Adventures? Of course. Let's face it if RTD had really pushed the issue we might well have got (shudder) Rose Tyler Defender of the Earff!